What’s the Matter?

matter
Vocabulary
quantitative
mass qualitative
Matter is anything that takes up space and has mass. Mass is the stuff physical chemical
that matter is made of, or the amount of particles in a substance or properties properties
object. Matter has physical and chemical properties and can undergo property
physical and chemical changes.
What are some examples of matter? Well, just look around you and
everything you see, touch, smell, and breathe are examples of matter.

What is a property?
A property describes how an object looks, feels, or acts. Properties can be physical or chemical.
Properties can also be quantitative or qualitative. A qualitative property of matter is observed and generally
can’t be measured with a numerical result. A quantitative property of matter is one that can be measured
numerically, such as height, length, or weight.
What are examples of physical properties?
Physical properties can be observed. Examples of physical properties can be color, weight, volume,
size, shape, density, boiling point, or freezing point.
What are examples of chemical properties?
A chemical property is usually one that can only be seen when a substance undergoes a chemical
change. These properties cannot be observed by touching or looking. Chemical properties become
apparent when the structure of the substance is altered chemically.
An example of this would be adding baking soda and vinegar and watching it bubble and give off a gas. The
bubbling is an indicator that the properties of the two initial ingredients have recombined to form a new
substance or substances.

substance AB +substance CD new substance AD + new substance BC

A simple equation of what happens when you add baking soda to vinegar:

baking soda (solid) + vinegar (liquid) carbon dioxide (gas) + water (liquid)

What is a chemical change?

A chemical change is a change that results in a new substance (or substances) being formed. The
important word to remember is new. A chemical change involves the making or breaking of bonds between
atoms. A chemical change makes a new substance that wasn’t there before.
What are examples of chemical changes?
Some examples of chemical changes are nails rusting over time, batter turning into a cake in the
oven, wood or paper burning to ashes, the digestion of food, and the baking soda and vinegar example above.

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What is a physical change?
A physical change is a change in a state of matter. For example, when ice melts, the H2O molecule is
going from a solid (ice) state to a liquid (water) state of matter. The actual molecule or the arrangement of
the atoms has not changed—just its state of matter. A physical change can also be a change in appearance
of matter. For example, a piece of paper is made of paper molecules, and when you tear the piece of paper in
half, both halves are still made of paper molecules. The atoms and molecules that make up the substance are
not physically changed.

Physical or Chemical Change?

Put a check to indicate whether you think the item is a physical change or a chemical change.

Physical Change Chemical Change

1. ice melting
2. cutting a pineapple into pieces
3. adding vinegar to baking soda
4. a piece of rusting metal
5. a campfire
6. crumbling a piece of paper
7. sour milk
8. shattering a drinking glass
9. dissolving sugar in water
10. burning paper
11. boiling water
12. burning a match

1.
2. Pure
Baking Vinegar
4.
Soda

3.
6.
8.
7. 9.
Milk

5.

10.
11. 12.

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Try This Experiment
How do you know that a gas is produced as a result of mixing baking soda and vinegar?

Materials
• ¼ cup (56 grams) of baking soda
• ¼ cup (60 milliliters) of vinegar
• 1 small, empty water bottle
• 1 balloon
• 1 funnel

Procedure
1. Stretch the balloon out before using it.
2. Using the funnel, fill the balloon with the baking soda.
3. Pour the vinegar into the empty water bottle.
4. Attach the opening of the balloon to the mouth of the water bottle—be careful not to get any baking
soda into the bottle.
5. Count to three and lift up the part of the balloon that contains the baking soda so that the baking soda
falls into the bottle.

Pure
Baking Vinegar
Soda
Refreshing
Spring
Water

Questions
1. What are the physical properties of the baking soda?

2. What are the physical properties of the vinegar?

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3. What happened inside the water bottle when you added the baking soda to the vinegar? What did you
see in the bottle?

4. Did anything happen to the balloon? If so, what do you think caused it?

5. What type of change occurred inside the bottle when you added the baking soda to the vinegar?

6. Fill in the definitions in the vocabulary box below.

Vocabulary
matter

mass

property

qualitative

quantitative

physical change

chemical change

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Answers with explanations
Physical
Change
1. ice melting
2. cutting a pineapple into pieces
3. adding vinegar to baking soda
4. a piece of rusting metal
5. a campfire
6. crumbling a piece of paper
7. sour milk
8. shattering a drinking glass
9. dissolving sugar in water
10. burning paper
11. boiling water
12. burning a match
Chemical Explanation
Change
√ This is a physical change because H2O is
changing from a solid state to a liquid state.
The H2O molecule remains the same, just in a
different state of matter.
This is a physical change. The molecules
√ that make up the pineapple are not being
changed—just their size is being changed.
This is a chemical change because a new
√ substance is being produced—the carbon
dioxide gas and atoms are being rearranged.
This is a chemical change because the iron in
√ the nail is being changed into a new substance:
rust.
This is an example of a chemical change
√ because the burning wood is being changed
into new substances: smoke and ash.
This is an example of a physical change
because the paper molecules are the same.
√
The appearance of the paper is the only thing
changing.
This is an example of a chemical change
because the atoms of the milk have been
√ rearranged to form a new substance: sour milk.
You cannot do anything to the milk to get rid of
the sour part.
This is an example of a physical change
because the actual pieces of glass are not
√
being changed. They are just being broken into
smaller pieces.
This is a physical change because there is NO
√ new substance being formed. When you mix
sugar with water, you simply get sugar water.
This is an example of a chemical change be-
√ cause two new substances are formed: smoke
and ash.
This is an example of a physical change because
the H2O is changing to another state of matter
√
(liquid to gas). No new substance is formed. The
molecules of water are just spaced out more.
This is an example of a chemical change. The
√ match head changes into ash and smoke and
you cannot use the match again.
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Answers
1. What are the physical properties of the baking soda?

White, odorless, solid, crystalline solid.

2. What are the physical properties of the vinegar?

Clear liquid, characteristic smell, acidic taste.

3. What happened inside the water bottle when you added the baking soda to the vinegar? What did you
see in the bottle?

Foam and bubbles began to appear. The bubbles indicate that a gas is being formed.

4. Did anything happen to the balloon? If so, what do you think caused it?

As the gas formed, it had nowhere to go so it went up and into the balloon, making it inflate.

5. What type of change occurred inside the bottle when you added the baking soda to the vinegar?

A chemical change.

6. Fill in the definitions in the vocabulary box below.

Vocabulary
matter anything that takes up space and has mass

mass the amount of stuff in a substance

property how an object looks, feels, or acts

a property of matter that can be observed and generally

qualitative cannot be measured with a numerical result

quantitative a property of matter that can be measured numerically

a physical change is a change in a state of matter or
physical change appearance
a chemical change is a change that results in a new
chemical change substance(s) being formed

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